Confusion arises from New Hanover school redistricting in 2008

By Pressley BairdPressley.Baird@StarNewsOnline.com

Tuesday

May 21, 2013 at 7:10 PM

The Board of Education and its staff interpreted the decision differently.

A 2008 decision by the New Hanover County Board of Education about elementary school redistricting should still stand today, the board said Tuesday.But that's not how staff understood it.In 2008, the board voted to send some under-construction housing developments to newly built Castle Hayne Elementary School.Staff thought that meant developments in construction in 2008. But the board wanted it to apply indefinitely, encompassing developments that are just now going up.There were 22 housing developments in the Blair and Ogden elementary districts that were still in the building stages in 2008. All of those neighborhoods were districted to attend then-newly built Castle Hayne Elementary. That decision largely centered around the Marsh Oaks neighborhood, said Bill Hance, the district's assistant superintendent for operations. “(The board) created the 22 satellites to save Marsh Oaks and allow Marsh Oaks to go to Ogden,” Hance said.But the board Tuesday said that it intended for that 2008 decision to hold permanently so as not to overcrowd Ogden Elementary. Board members Janice Cavenaugh, Ed Higgins, Jeannette Nichols and Don Hayes were also on the board in 2008.But Hance said that wasn't the understanding of staff, using an apartment complex adjacent to the Marsh Oaks neighborhood as an example.Since it wasn't around in 2008, students who live there will attend Ogden Elementary – not Castle Hayne Elementary, Hance said.But that's not what the board wanted, said Cavenaugh and several other board members.Hance walked through it again to make sure he had it correct.“Every time something is plated that is new in the Blair and Ogden school districts, you want us to create it as a satellite,” Hance said.“Yes,” Cavenaugh said.“We'll be redistricting, then, all the time,” Hance responded.But until the district can put a new school in the Porters Neck area – a plan that school board members and county commissioners have been discussing for months – that will have to be the case, board members said.Ogden Elementary had about 690 students at the start of the 2012-13 school year. Blair Elementary had about 600 students, while Castle Hayne Elementary had just over 500 students.At least one group of families wants the satellite decision to change. Future residents of the Anchors Bend neighborhood on Middle Sound Loop Road want their neighborhood redistricted so students can attend nearby Ogden Elementary rather than Castle Hayne Elementary, which residents say is 15 miles away.But board members say that making an exception for Anchors Bend would require an exception for all 22 satellites.The board Tuesday did discuss purchasing land for a new Porters Neck-area school in its closed session at the end of the meeting. Under state meeting law, a land purchase can stay confidential until an offer is made and accepted.

Pressley Baird: 343-2328On Twitter: @PressleyBaird

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